Toilets, also called water closets, are waste disposal devices commonly installed in most bathrooms. These kinds of plumbing appliances generally include a water-storing receptacle called a water tank that is attached to a siphon seat-shaped bowl called a toilet bowl. Periodically, waste is removed from the toilet bowl by flushing, thereby allowing water to drain from the water tank through the toilet bowl and into a waste drainpipe. In order to work, however, the toilet bowl must be connected to the waste drainpipe by fluid carrying conduits. Typically, the toilet bowl will sit flat on a floor and connect with a toilet flange. The toilet flange in turn connects with conduits leading to a waste drainpipe.
In order to create a proper seal between the toilet flange and the toilet bowl, one or more toilet seals may be needed. These toilet seal are typically made from foam, wax, or rubber and may be shaped as a ring. Because of the unique nature of each toilet installation, a different number of toilet seals may be needed for each installation. For example, depending on when and where the toilet was installed, an outer lip of the toilet flange may rest on either a finished flooring surface or on a sub-flooring surface. If the outer lip of the toilet flange rests on the finished flooring surface, only one toilet seal may be needed, depending on the shape of the toilet being installed. However, if the outer lip of the toilet flange rests on the sub-flooring surface, one or more additional toilet seals may be needed to compensate for the thickness of the finished flooring surface and to create a proper seal between the toilet bowl and the toilet flange.
When connecting the toilet bowl to the toilet flange, an outer, decorative portion of the toilet bowl will sit on the flooring surface and will obstruct any view of the connection between an inner portion of the toilet bowl and the toilet flange. Therefore, a user, whether a plumbing professional or a do-it-yourself (DIY) homeowner, often must guess as to the number, thickness, and/or type of toilet seals required to create a proper seal between the toilet bowl and the toilet flange and even after installing the toilet would not know if a proper seal has been made.
Thus, a toilet installation aid that can be used to quickly and easily determine the number and/or thickness of toilet seals needed to create a proper seal between the toilet bowl and toilet flange is desired.